Green Mountain’s Dark Magic K-Cup

Green Mountain’s Dark Magic K-Cup is a bit magic and a bit dark and a lot good

There’s a beginning, middle and end in most movies and books. The exposition serves to set the scene, followed by the rising action, climax, falling action and finally, the resolution. If coffee were a movie, then this extra bold K-Cup picks up right before the climax.

Dark Magic K-Cup coffee review

Green Mountain Coffee’s Dark Magic K-Cup is marketed as an extra bold pod that contains more coffee than regular K-Cups. Is it really “extra bold?” Using a Keurig 2.0 brewing system, I set off to answer this very question. The machine rumbles to life and an opaque liquid gurgles into the cup. It looks pretty bold. The aroma quickly finds my olfactory nerve. It’s thick and savory. There’s nothing sweet about this fragrance. Although it’s dense, it still has an aromatic, appetizing scent.

The brew:

The Dark Magic brew has a solid flavor. It’s certainly bold but extra bold? Comparing K-Cups, I would label it a dark roast, assigning it a shelf just below the “extra bold” category. It’s akin to that monotone professor who excels at educating but lacks personality. The brew is tasty with a concentrated bean flavor, very close in flavor to espresso but without the jolt.

And that’s it. Yes, it’s palatable; yes, it leaves you wanting more but that’s its crutch. It’s like you begin reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” smack in the middle where he’s obsessing over a cloth-covered tapestry. You’ve little idea of its contents and the details leading up to his obsession over some painting. Keurig’s Dark Magic brew leaves you wanting more. Although I’m not a fan of decaf I also tried Dark Magic and that is definitely the best decaf K-cup coffee

The Dark Magic K-Cup has nothing on other dark roast brews like Barista Prima Coffeehouse’s Italian Roast, which provides a full-bodied cup of coffee whether you’re ready for it or not. In contrast, Dark Magic is much more palatable than similar brews like Green Mountain’s Wicked Winter blend. The only thing wicked about this pod is the vibrant blue color housing the K-Cup.

The background:

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters began as a small, specialty coffee company in Vermont, in 1981, where they offered an assortment of coffee flavors and tea blends. Their business excelled and eventually supplied coffee products to many retailers, convenience stores and gas stations across the U.S. In 1994, GMCR invested in startup-company Keurig and became the first roasters to offer single-serving pods for the Keurig brewing system.

In 2006, GMCR fully acquired Keurig. Green Mountain’s revenue ballooned and it went on to purchase a few more Keurig licenses: Tully’s Coffee, Timothy’s World Coffee, Diedrich Coffee and Van Houtte. GMCR eventually allowed other coffee moguls like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Duonuts to create their own brand of K-Cups.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters formally changed its name in 2003 to Keurig Green Mountain. Since 2006, Keurig has created a few more specialty brewers including the Keurig Vue, Rivo and Bolt systems, most of which are designed as single-serve coffee devices that produce regular, espresso, cappuccino and latte mixtures.

Where to purchase Green Mountain’s Dark Magic K-Cup:

Green Mountain’s Dark Magic K-cup is one of their more popular pods. It can be found at most retail locations in packs of 18, 24, 48 and even higher quantities. I purchased these at Amazon. The Dark Magic K-Cups can also be found online at Keurig.com and many other retail websites. If you’re looking for even more kick, Green Mountain ups the ante with their darkest roast, the Double Diamond K-Cup. Other dark roast K-Cups include Barista Prima Coffeehouse’s French Roast and Espresso Roast. Since the Dark Magic pod picks up near the climax of the narrative, maybe the “rest of the story” is lying in these darker roasts.